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 A Ten Commandments monument erected outside the Oklahoma state Capitol.
December 9th, 2013
01:46 PM ET
Satanists want statue next to 10 CommandmentsBy Daniel Burke, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) - Lots of lawmakers have been accused of devilish behavior, but Oklahoma's state capitol may become the first to actually have a monument to Satan. If a New York-based group called the Temple of Satan gets its way, a statue of the Evil One would sit next to the recently erected 10 Commandments monument on state capitol grounds. "They said they wanted to be open to different monuments," said Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the Temple of Satan, "and this seems like a perfect place to put that to the test." Greaves and some legal experts say the Constitution is clear: the government can't endorse one particular religion. So, if a state capitol has a monument to one faith, it must allow monuments to others as well. The Temple of Satan is less a religious body organized around rituals and regular meetings than a roving band of political provocateurs, said Greaves. They believe Satan is a "literary construct," the spokesman said, not an actual being with horns and hooves. Last year, the Temple organized a gay and lesbian kiss-in at the gravesite of the mother of anti-gay preacher and activist the Rev. Fred Phelps. It also held a rally at Florida's state capitol in support of a law that allows "inspirational messages" at public school assemblies. "It allows us to spread the message of Satanism," which centers around respect for diversity and religious minorities, said Greaves. Oklahoma legislators voted to erect the Ten Commandments monument in 2009, using private funds donated by Rep. Mike Rietz, a surgeon and Southern Baptist deacon. Rietz declined to comment on the Satanists' proposal on Monday, citing an separate and ongoing dispute with the American Civil Liberties Union over the Ten Commandments monument. Oklahoma state Rep. Bob Cleveland told CNN that he's not in favor of the Satanist's proposed statue. "I believe that only monuments that reflect Oklahoma values should be allowed on capitol the capitol grounds," Cleveland said in an e-mail on Monday. But if Christians and Jews can have their monument to the 10 Commandments, then Satanists must be allowed to erect their own statue, said Brady Henderson, legal director of the American Civil Liberty Union's Oklahoma chapter. "We feel like the Satanic Temple has a very strong argument to say that, if the state allows one religious monument, you have to allow others," Henderson said. Oklahoma's statehouse grounds already has monuments honoring its heritage and Native American history, said Trait Thompson, chair of the Capitol Preservation Commission. "Individuals and groups are free to apply to place a monument or statue or artwork," Thompson said. The commission then determines whether the proposal abides by its standards and votes on whether to approve it. Greaves said he's received the required forms from Oklahoma's Capitol Preservation Commission and is working on a design that will meet its standards. "We want something big and bold that will be able to stand up to the weather or whatever other kinds of assaults," that may target the monument, he said. "My favorite idea right now is an object of play for children. We want kids to see that Satanism is where the fun is." The Temple of Satan created a Indiegogo fundraising page on Monday, but have thus far only publicly raised $150 towards its goal of $20,000. Not all Satanist groups see the fun in political provocations. Magus Peter Gilmore, head of the Church of Satan, which was founded by Anton LaVey in 1966, said he believes in strict separation of church and state. "Rather than placing multiple 'advertisements' for various religions, we think it best for the (10 Commandments) monument to be removed to private property and that there be no objects supporting religion of any sort placed on the statehouse grounds," Gilmore said. Earlier this year, Gilmore's Church of Satan squared off against a British group of Satanists over abortion rights, after activists shouted "Hail Satan" to drown out anti-abortion activists at the Texas state capitol. soundoff (3,610 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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They want it at Ann Coulter's house, right?
LOLOLOLOL
Even Satan would not 'tap' that... He took a break from nailing lying white women ever since the Mary 'immaculate conception' incident
Oh good Satanists. No one misses them.
I was hiking in the mountains last weekend and a bush burst into flames but it was not consumed. A voice came out of the bush and said "there is no god and religion is foolishness". I shrugged my shoulders and thought "OK ... I suppose a voice from a burning bush can't be wrong." So take note everyone. cheers!
You'll need to put this down on paper before anyone will accept it.
It will be interesting to see this case go through the court systems.
And it will. Especially if they deny other groups.
Agreed.
Is Topher not a danger to humanity? What can be done, litigation?
Normally I would be against this, but I think the actual heresy is having a monument to the Ten Commandments on any state capital grounds anywhere, not to mention D.C.! LOL. Oh me – sainted politicians and in Oklahoma no less.
Actually, they should try to put on a duplicate on K Street; Twain called Satan "the first consultant". LMAO.
The ten commandments does not allow for tolerance of other religious beliefs. In fact it claims that god is a jealous god and if you don't recognize him as the only god you will be punished along with the next 3 generations of your children. A monument to religious intolerance does not belong on public ground.
we need a creationist museum on the lawn of the Oklahoma capital
haha, this is hilarious! Mixing politics and religion doesn't work, and poor Christians like Cleveland think that "only monuments that reflect [Christian] values should be allowed on capitol the capitol grounds." If you can't beat 'em, give them a taste of their own medicine and they'll realize that allowing any religious monuments is a bad idea.
LMAO, here's my prediction. They gonna sell the piece of land the statue rest on to a private group, so that it's no longer on public land.
And then other non-dead jew zombie death cult cults and/or non-believers will want to purchase land in a similar fashion and the charade will be exposed.
yeah, but it's legal to simply say no more land is available for sale.
I think a court would see through the ruse.
LMAO, seeing thru the ruse? because it's the spirit of the law not the letter of the law that consistently enforced. /sarcasm
beside there's a precedent, someone awhile back put up a big cross on public land, it engendered the same contraversy, so the state sold the land under the cross to private group. and it was deemed legal, and denied other groups from buying public land next to it by simply saying it's not available for sale.
I hope Satan wins this one.
Shame on you and bless your little heart...
Ha, yeah I agree.
I got a laugh from this line in the article: "My favorite idea right now is an object of play for children. We want kids to see that Satanism is where the fun is."
🙂
The 10 Commandments have VERY LITTLE to do with law so why should they be there anyway?
Because the conservative right in this country wants a theocracy.
And they have even LESS to do with politics or politicians!
Respectfully, Mosaic Law and the 10 Commandments have been brought down through the ages, through Roman, English and many other Nations to the present time. Not all, mind you, but most.
Odd then that only perjury (baring false witness), murder and stealing are actually laws in our country. Almost like they are basic to what ANY society needs to survive that they could have come from anywhere... hmmm....
but the bible says that the devil is the lord of the air and that anywhere man erects a statue of the devil, there will be tornadoes!
Oh no, what will happen to those poor people in Oklahoma if tornadoes start destroying their trailer parks and towns!
oh if only god was not so weak and could stop the devil
LOL
Insulting a satanist is like trying to teach a pig...no, they've been ablt to get pigs to learn.
Kind of like trying to teach a Fundamentalist Christian that evolution is real and their book is OBE...
@The One Who Knows
Absolutely right 😉
I guess we shall not comment here any more.
So called Christians screamed "freedom of speech" to get the ten commandments of their mythical pagan religion put up. Wonder what they are saying now... Call you spell "hypocrites"???
From the 5,000-pound granite behemoth inside the Alabama State Judicial Building to the little wallet-cards sold at Christian bookstores — is bogus. Simply reading the Bible will prove this. Getting out your King James version, turn to Exodus 20:2-17. You’ll see the familiar list of rules about having no other gods, honoring your parents, not killing or coveting,
and so on. At this point, though, Moses is just repeating to the people what God told him on Mount Si’nai. These are not written down in any form.
Later, Moses goes back to the Mount, where God gives him two “tables of stone” with rules written on them (Exodus 31:18). But when Moses comes down the mountain lugging his load, he sees the people worshipping a statue of a calf, causing him to throw a tantrum and smash the tablets on the ground (Exodus 32:19).
In neither of these cases does the Bible refer to “commandments.” In the first instance, they are “words” which “God spake,” while the tablets contain “testimony.” It is only when Moses goes back for new tablets that we see the phrase “ten commandments” (Exodus 34:28). In an interesting turn of events, the commandments on these tablets are significantly different than the ten rules Moses recited for the people, meaning that either Moses’ memory is faulty or God changed his mind.
I. Thou shalt worship no other god.
II. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods.
III. The feast of unleavened bread thou shalt keep.
IV. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.
V. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest,
and the feast of ingathering at the year’s end.
VI. Thrice in the year shall all your men children appear before the Lord God.
VII. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven.
VIII. Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
IX. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the LORD thy God.
X. Thou shalt not seethe a kid [ie, a young goat] in his mother’s milk.
So why have this in front of any Government building? Keep your god out of my country
I thought there were 15 Commandments... at least according to the "History of the World, Part 1."
Nice 15 Commandments, get youre 15 Commandments here.... ooop 10, 10 Commandments!
I feel like the Satan statue would be more appropriate in front of wall st. or somewhere in DC since Lucifer (Satan) is revered by so many in our government
Obama? What would be his logo? I came, I saw and then I concurred?
Bush's would be "I talked to God often and we ended up with Hurricane Katrina, the 9/11 attack, the stock market plummeted, and we started a $2,000,000,000,000 war for false reasons".
Agree with that one... and Clinton? "I loved to lick cigars". Too funny!
We left out Reagan – Feel free to trickle, it's good for the economy!
If they really are Satanists ... why do they need permission?
Why would anyone want a statue of my ex-wife at the capital?
😀
HA! That was a good one!
I wonder if Satanists have their own cemeteries!!!
Yep and they're full of dogs, the non dyslexic type.
hehhehehe... rather rotten too 😉
I want statues of Zeus and Odin placed next to the Ten Commandments, or I'm gonna sue.
Oh, and a statue of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, too.
So make an application and get your wallet out to pay for the statues of your choice.
And if you raise the money and follow the guidelines, you may.
The OK gov't didn't pay for this monument with taxpayer money.
ONLY if they VOTE to allow it. which is highly unlikely due to hypocrisy
They would have to give a very specific reason not to allow it; one that would be able to withstand a challenge in the SCOTUS.
To avoid this, it would be smart to use the exact same dimensions as the current monument.
FSM would be awesome!
May HIS noodly appendage bless you with HIS touch! R'amen!
Bah!
I mock your starchy god with his pirates and midgets.
Praise J.R. "Bob" Dobbs for The Church of the Subgenius is the only faith that offers eternal salvation or TRIPLE YOUR MONEY BACK.